Pastoral Support
Meet the Team
Mrs C Batchelor Pastoral Leader and Designated Safeguarding Lead - cbatchelor@selwood.mnsp.org.uk
Mrs J Parker Pastoral Assistant, Mental Health First Aider and DDSL - jparker@selwood.mnsp.org.uk
Miss B Lawson Pastoral Assistant, Mental Health First Aider and DDSL - blawson@selwood.mnsp.org.uk
Mrs L Mallows Cover Supervisor and Pastoral Assistant - lmallows@selwood.mnsp.org.uk
Mrs F Andrews Attendance Officer + DDSL - fandrews@selwood.mnsp.org.uk
Location
The Pastoral Team are based in an office, located in B Block.
A little about what we do
Every member of the team helps support both pupils and parents in many ways, each and every day. Sometimes a child’s feelings can be short lived but for others it never goes away, this is why no two circumstances are the same and we therefore have an open-door policy whereby we can be approached or contacted throughout the school day and we will do our upmost to respond as soon as possible, to both pupils and parents.
We are here to help support pupils with any worries or concerns that may arise in or out of school, and once we are made aware of any issues, we will maintain giving support for as long as necessary, the team are trusted adults to whom they can turn to.
For some pupils we may need to take the time to work a little more closely. This could be 1:1 support. For example, talking and working through work sheets appropriate to their age and worries. Pupils’ worries may include anxiety, stress, bereavement, self-harm, anger and low mood, to name but a few.
We may not always have the answers, but a listening ear and a smiling face is all that is needed. We liaise closely with staff within school and if necessary we can also make referrals to some supportive external agencies such as Young Somerset https://www.youngsomerset.org.uk/ , WHY https://www.wehearyou.org.uk/ and we are lucky enough to work in partnership with place2be https://www.place2be.org.uk/ We maintain good communication with parents and, to the best of our ability, are able to help support with issues that you feel may have an impact on your child within school, home or the wider community.
Alongside moral support we can help with other issues such as referrals made to Fair Frome https://fairfrome.org/ (please contact blawson@selwood.mnsp.org.uk ) who champions greater financial, educational, and social equality for people living in Frome.
We understand that as parents we can quite often have a lot to juggle and some days may feel stressful, but please feel able to reach out to us for any support you may need.
Young Carers
At Selwood Academy, we believe that all children and young people have the right to an education regardless of their home circumstances. We acknowledge that there are likely to be young carers among our pupils and that being a young carer can have an adverse effect on a young person’s education. We have adopted our young carers policy so that we will be able to relieve some of the worries that young carers may have about home and their school work.
Please find our young carers poster here .